"I thought it was real good news," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "The exam, [team orthtopedist] Dr. Wilckens and the MRI showed the same thing, just some inflammation at the most. All the structure is good, the ligament everything. The ulnar nerve is a little imflamed, which is normal this time of year."

In the meantime, Tillman will do his in-between starts core work at Double-A Bowie, which is playing in the Eastern League playoffs. Tillman has also been dealing with some shin split issues, so he might be limited to riding an exercise bike.

Showalter said it's too soon to tell whether Tillman will miss his next start, which would be Saturday against the Yankees at Camden Yards.

"He's still four or five days away," Showalter said. "We'll see if it completely resolves. We're hoping we don't have to give him an anti-inflammatory shot and we're thinking we can stay away from that, I hope."

Tillman (7-2, 3.39 ERA in 11 starts) left Tuesday's game against the Yankees after just three innings after feeling like he had a dead arm. Between the majors and Triple-A Norfolk, Tillman has pitched 153 1/3 innings, 22 innings less than his previous highest season total. He threw 185 innings in 2010 with the Orioles and Norfolk.

Both Buck Showalter and Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette have said that Jason Hammel’s possible early-September return from knee surgery would make essentially the same impact of a late-season trade.

TORONTO -- Left-handed pitcher Kevin Grendell, the Orioles' 11th-round pick in this June's amateur draft, has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for a substance banned under the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

I’m averaging about one national radio show interview request a day for the past week or so. What’s going on here? Don’t these people know the NFL starts Wednesday? And it’s September in Baltimore? Didn’t these people get the memo that it’s football...